Week of June 7th 2020

Hello everyone, we hope you’re enjoying the nice weather as much as the plants and animals are. It’s been perfect for cutting hay last week. We will be bailing hay tomorrow afternoon and could really use some amazing helping hands with it.

We have a good amount of rhubarb available and asparagus is going well. Salad greens, swiss chard, collards, lots of kale, mint,and much more.
Don’t forget to order your farm fresh eggs, beef, pork and stewing hens.

We have put The Egg Mobile and the Broiler Sled back into operation and the birds are settling nicely into the pasture.

Reminder that orders are due by midnight on Wednesday. Pick up times are 3 PM to 6 PM Thursdays and Fridays. We appreciate you supporting local and have a wonderful week.

Be well,
Nick & Angela.

Old 99 farm, Hay season comes early

Would be wonderful if any of you can come by the farm Monday June 8th or Tuesday 9th to help bring some hay in from the field to the barn. With lots of hands it’s fun and barely break a sweat.
We’ll start monday afternoon so if you have an hour or two, we will greatly appreciate your coming by.
It helps me plan if you send an email confirming that you are available. We’re keeping covid distancing in mind and will supply masks if you request.

Thanks in advance,
Ian and Cami

Week of May 30 2020

Good day everyone! We have a good crop.of stir fry greens available this week along with mixed bunch radishes, arugula, green leaf lettuce, health kick salad greens, red kale, green chard, nettle leaf, rhubarb and asparagus.
Don’t forget your eggs when you order this week. Eggs are still on reduced price, and if you buy 5 dozen, you get one free! Please remember to bring your empty egg cartons for us to re use.

*A bee note: Some exciting news! We now have a horizontal box hive positioned in the orchard with a swarm of about 10,000 honey bees. More will be coming on the next few weeks to fill the other hives. These will help pollinate the farm and other wild plants in the area.

Pork is in, good selection of chops, loin and butt, shoulder roasts, ground and hot spicy italian sausage. No bacon, we’re going to try smoking our own!

Tomato, kale, and chard transplants still here.

Order deadline is Wednesday at 12 Midnight. Orders placed after this time will not be processed.
Pickup times are Thursday and Friday 3 PM to 6 PM. If special arrangements are needed please text or call Nick at 519-755-0577. We appreciate your cooperation and support at the farm.
Have a wonderful week, we hope to see you at the farm.

Be well,
Nick & Angela

Healthy eating,
Ian and Cami

Week of May 24th 2020

Hello folks! Here we are in the last week of May heading into June with summer temperatures already upon us. The heat is really helping everything along nicely including egg production.
I have a good supply of fresh new crop stir fry greens available, I had some the other day and they’re bursting with flavour. We still have lots of rhubarb available, along with mint, chard, arugula, health kick salad greens, baby beet greens and more.
Asparagus is available this week!

Don’t forget to order your eggs when you place you place your order.
Eggs are reduced in price to $7/Jumbo, $6/XL and $5/LG That’s a heck of a deal for organic eggs my friends. If you buy 5 dozen you’ll get one free, that’s another 20% off!
Also, we have noticed eggs sales dropping off; don’t worry about white eggs being mixed with brown, there is no difference, they taste the same and we weigh every egg and every full carton to make sure you’re getting what you pay for.

Pork will be available again next week: full selection of cuts raised here organically. Including sausage, ground, chops and roast. Smoked cuts will be couple weeks later.

Beef: lots of choice: burger and steaks for the bbq, roasts and soup bones for broth.

Please remember to place your order BEFORE midnight on Wednesdays. Orders placed after that time will not be processed.
Pick up times are Thursday and Friday 3 PM to 6PM.
We appreciate your cooperation and loyalty to the farm and look forward to serving you.

Be well,
Nick and Angela
Ian and Cami

Week of May 17th 2020

Good day organic veggie and meat lovers! It was nice to see so many people last week, thank you for your orders and continued visits. We’re happy to be able to provide quality organic produce and meat in a sustainable way. We hope you enjoyed your long weekend and were able to get out and do something with some of the restrictions lifted.

Now it’s the middle of May and that means that more produce will become available as the days get warmer and longer.
Don’t forget to order your eggs when placing your order for veggies. And please bring your egg cartons back in, and collect from your neighbours.
Veggies available this week: green chard, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad greens, claytonia baby greens, shuidong mustard and rhubarb. More will be listed as the week goes by.

Order cut off is Wednesday at 12 midnight.
Orders placed after this time will not be filled.
Pick up times are 3 PM to 6PM Thursday and Friday.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support!
We look forward to seeing you!

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of May 10 2020

Hello! We’re quite busy here at the farm as we swing into gear this season. Rhubarb is nice and full and bursting with flavour.

A bee note: I have been seeing honey bees regularly since last week and a few the week before so remember to leave the dandelion flowers be. The flowers are one of the first sources of food for them as they emerge from their hives.

We expect to have pork in the freezer by the end of the month in perfect timing for BBQ and smoker season. Beef and stewing hens are also available.
Don’t forget to order your eggs when placing your order for veggies. And please bring your egg cartons in, and collect from your neighbours! We’re right out.
Veggies available this week: green chard, red kale, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad greens, rhubarb, claytonia baby greens, shuidong mustard.

Order cut off is Wednesday at 12 midnight.
Orders placed after this time will not be filled.
Pick up times are 3 PM to 6PM Thursday and Friday.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support!
We look forward to seeing you!

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of May 4th 2020

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week. The weather was very nice and allowed us to get a fair bit of outdoor work finished on the gardens beds. The pastures are greening up, grass is growing and bees are buzzing and birds are nesting: spring is officially here. We’re getting ready to get the outdoor beds planted with more delicious veggies and root crops.

This week we have rhubarb, stir fry blend greens, health kick salad blend, choi sum, shuidong leaf mustard, red kale, green and rainbow chard, beef, stewing hens, rabbits and eggs.
We still have compost available for your flower and vegetable beds at home.

Please remember to place your order BEFORE 7 AM Thursday. If its placed after that time it will not be filled. Thank you!

We look forward to seeing you this weekend. Have a great week folks.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 27th 2020

Hello everyone, we hopenypire doing well! I have two new greens available this week: Choy Sum and Shuidong Mustard greens.
On the palate, Shuidong mustard is crispy, delicious and tender with a fresh sweet flavoir and has no bitter taste of ordinary mustard greens. It adds a nice flavor nd a splash of bright green to fresh salads. Shuidong mustard helps with digestion.
Choy Sum contains small yellow flowers that are similar in appearance to gai lan and are also edible with a peppery but very subtle mustard flavor. Choy sum is juicy, tender, and crunchy with a sweet. It is great steamed, in stir fry or in soups.
Egg production is coming back up and the chickens are settling in more and lore each week. The baby Cornish cross chicks we picked up last week are growing and looking strong and we look forward to having pastured meat birds for all of our wonderful customers.

We wish you a happy and healthy week and look forward to your orders this week.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 19 2020

The farm market is running as everything begins to ramp up with the warmth of Spring.  The items in the way of greens now include rhubarb, baby mixed greens, arugula, collards and Red Russian kale. As always, we have plenty of beef and stewing chickens in the freezer. Rabbit stock is building and I expect a full stock will be near the end of summer but I will have rabbits available in limited quantity up until then.  The chickens are starting to lay more and more eggs every day as they settle in and become more like chickens. The egg mobile has been refurbished and us ready to be filled with chickens to go on pasture. We have meat birds coming later in the week that will be raised on separate pasture and expected to be ready by mid-Summer.  These are perfect for roasting in the oven, putting in the smoker or for some old fashioned fried chicken.

A notice for ordering: ALL orders must be submitted BEFORE midnight on Wednesday. Any order placed after that time will not be filled. Thank you for your cooperation.

Pick up times will be Thursdays and Fridays 3PM – 6PM. Special arrangements can be made for pick up on other days if needed; please email or call/text Nick LaMarsh.
Email: nickspicksorganics@gmail.com
Phone: 519-755-0577

We look forward to serving you and wish you a great week ahead.

Be well,
Nick and Angela

Week of April 13 2020

Hello everyone! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new grower for the Market Garden at Old 99 Farm. He’ll say more about himself and his goals in his own words.

My name is Nick LaMarsh and he moved to the farm last fall with my wife, Angela Hanlon.
I have been growing natural and organic vegetables and leafy greens since I was about 10 years old and have had a passion for food ever since. That passion has kept me growing fresh produce most of my life and has led me into various areas of food industry and food production. From making Polish style deli meats and other charcuterie, to managing a small cafe to working in very busy restaurants as a line cook and more. It’s been a great journey and I couldn’t be happier to be able to grow quality organic produce for you and your family. I was an urban farmer and managed a large community garden for about 4 years before moving to Old 99 Farm to market garden on a large scale.

I utilize an old and very little known method of growing produce called Korean Natural Farming. It’s an organic and completely natural style of farming that uses the theory of delivering exactly what the plant needs at its different stages of growth. As well as utilizing things like compost and manure ‘tea’, the Korean Natural Farming process requires me to collect all natural local ingredients such as young plant shoots, emerging plants, roots and microbial rich organic matter to create the inputs. They are rich in microbial life, minerals and nutrients that feed the soil and in turn feed the plant and give it the best possible environment to grow in to produce the best food possible.

I will be growing a wide variety of leafy greens including kale, mustard, stir fry greens, chard, Asian greens and salad greens. Also on the grow list is purple sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, berries, asparagus, tree fruits and rhubarb. I also raise meat rabbits and chickens and will have them available by end of summer for you to enjoy.

I look forward to seeing you at the farm!

Be well friends,
Nick

This is the ‘in-between’ season for vegies, our stored root crops are almost depleted, overwintered greens are in demand but plants are heavily cropped. We have lots in the greenhouses coming. This week we can offer chard (perpetual green variety very succulent and spinach-like), arugula, radishes and baby mixed greens. We have a new flock of chickens, brown and white layers so the production is increasing (along with demand I’ll also say). The meat freezers are full with beef and chicken.

For your garden we have active compost and in about a month we’ll have vegetable seedlings for you to transplant.

The new precautions for covid19 are working fine. You place your order as usual and pick up outside. We’ve loosened our hours so there’s no crowded times; state your preferred pick up time on your order. E-transfer is preferred.

Nick will be doing a round of phone calls to randomly selected customers asking for suggestions and feedback on buying local from Old99, starting this week. Please take a moment to share your thoughts.

Healthy eating
Ian and Cami